Hi. My name is Elaine and I’m a published queer pornographer. I’ve written porn, and produced a porn magazine, and I’m a consumer of porn. Moreover, I like hard, edgy porn that pushes the boundaries of safe-sane-consensual.
Seeing me in a different light, now?
If we had this conversation on the bus, would you edge away and sit elsewhere? Would you call for a cop? A judge? If so, ask yourself why. What could cause one cheerful fat femme dyke to suddenly appear… dangerous? Is it the pen in my hand?
It’s a common belief that exposure to pornography causes people to become sexually violent. Let’s run that through the logic filter, shall we?
If reading edgy porn creates predators, why aren’t, say, fans of Agatha Christie or Stephen King suspected of being murderers when they’re caught reading mystery or horror? If reading edgy porn creates predators, the people most likely to become sexually sociopathic are Canada Customs agents, who surely have read the largest quantity of nasty porn in North America. Hmm.
If we examine porn-as-cause-of-violence from the opposite angle, we seem to say that a mentally ill serial rapist would be rendered a sweet and gentle lamb by the simple removal of his Bettie Page bondage magazines. How’s that again?
Watch as I lift my pen and write the outline of my next porn story. Forgive the archetypes; I have no room for character development.
Two sailors walk into a gay bar. They find a cute young fag and coax him to come out to the back alley with them. (Good so far?)
The two sailors-violent homophobes-assault the poor young man, striking him with chains and fists. But wait! Six tough leathermen have come out to check on their motorcycles. The duo of bashers are slapped, roughed up, draped facedown across two of the motorcycles and secured by belts and convenient handcuffs. Their clothing has been torn in the struggle. Each has a black bandana (how apropos) stuffed in his mouth.
Bearing in mind that this is a rough-sex fantasy-what happens next? How far can this pen of mine wander along the path of edgy pornography before this article, and the Xtra West that surrounds it, is yanked from the newsstands by zealots? Have I turned into a monster yet, or is that three paragraphs further along in the narrative?
I am an ethical adult. I’m responsible for everything I do. If you’re an adult, I consider you responsible for all your actions, too.
As an adult, I consider myself an authorized user of filthy fantasy and perverted queer pornography. And I stand behind the right to exist of every word I commit to print.
Why you can trust Xtra
